When The Man Comes Around
by The Devil's Warrior
Summary: Emma Nelson is a troubled sixteen year old girl and she had recently broken up with Sean Cameron. She is confused about what direction her life is going in and is drawn to a new student who is hiding a dark secret that will threaten to change the history of Degrassi forever.


-Chapter One-

-Speak To Me-

* * *

Emma Nelson was a pretty blonde-haired girl; she leaned against her lockers and was still hurting over her recent break up with Sean Cameron. How many times were they going to break up and quickly get back together? She shook her head and that she couldn't keep up with his random bullshit, how many times would he fuck sluts behind her back and beg for her forgiveness. It was early on Monday morning and the school had just started, school was the one place she didn't have to be because she would see him. High school was a haunting thing that pained her every day. She was a troubled sixteen year old girl who had nothing but trouble and distress following her.

Her blonde hair hung gracefully down her shoulders and she wore a light summer dress that clung to her stunning body. The sunlight glowed on her heavenly looking face. She glanced up as Sean Cameron, Jason Hogart, Alex Nunez, Amy Peters-Hoffman and Towerz strutted passed her. They all glared at her like she was something from another planet. It felt as if they took forever to walk by her, she hated Sean Cameron and Jason Hogart the most. She didn't really care for Alex, Amy or even Towerz.

She watched as they walked away and Sean's arm was draped around Amy's slender neck. Emma thought that she was the sluttiest girl, how could a girl let herself wear all those revealing clothes like she was some prostitute on a street corner. Emma heard someone shouting her name; she numbly turned her head and saw her beaming best friend rushing down the corridor with a skip in her step.

"Manny!" Emma said cheerfully even though she didn't feel happy at all. "Good morning, Manny. It's a nice day, isn't it? I'm sorry that I could meet up with you yesterday; I had to look after Jack because my parents suddenly decided that they wanted to go out for a meal."

Manny Santos smiled at her best friend and ran a hand through neatly combed black hair. She held a mobile phone in her pocket, it was Blackberry Pearl. Manny was too busy looking at her text message with a faint and lingering smile on her face.

"That's okay," Manny said absentmindedly and furiously pressed the buttons on her sleek looking mobile phone. "We can do it tonight or tomorrow."

"Who are you texting, Manny?" Emma asked Manny and already knew the answer; she looked at the happy expression and warm smile.

"Who do you think, Emma? I can't believe that I'm finally dating Craig Manning!" Manny Santos squealed as if it was the greatest thing in the whole world. "I'm his girlfriend, Emma!" Can you believe it?"

Emma said nothing and smoothed the palm of her hand down her cheek.

"What's a matter, Emma? You're not your bubbly self," Manny said and she gazed into her friend's saddened eyes. "You're still thinking about that bastard Sean, aren't you, Emma?"

Emma nodded her head and softly cried. She had cried before and nothing was going to stop her from crying. Emma cried herself to sleep and cried to Manny on the telephone.

"Manny, he was my first boyfriend and the first person that I ever had sex with," she said softly and looked around to see if anyone was listening to her. "He used me for sex because he didn't love me. I gave him my heart; he took and crushed it before I could do anything. Do you honestly know how that feels, Manny?"

"You need to forget about him, Emma? Have you seen how many guys are willing to date you? Why don't you start thinking about dating Toby or JT, Emma?"

"What? Why would I date JT? We're just friends, he's too immature and I don't think he's ready for a serious relationship. We're sixteen and he's still making fart and poop jokes."

"He's still a good guy, Emma!" Manny thundered back and slammed her palm against the lockers. "He's much better than Sean fucking Cameron!"

"Excuse me!" I don't me to interrupt you from your conversation," a soft and calm voice came from nowhere. "Hello! Are you even listening to me?"

Emma and Manny stopped talking and looked up to see who had interrupted their conversation. They looked around to see a teenager of a short stature. His brown hair was a mess, it looked like a haystack that a horse had been chewing on but there was something about him that Emma thought was cute. He wore yellow trainers with white laces.

"How can we help you?" Manny said and nudged Emma in the ribs when she noticed that she gawping at the boy in front of her.

"I was just wondering if you could show me to my next class," he said and stammered nervously. "I'm so nervous because it's my first day! I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your girly talk."

Emma and Manny shook their heads and smiled politely back at him.

"You've just started!" Manny said and gawped at the new student like he was a brilliant masterpiece in a famous art museum. "I'm Manny Santos and I would like to welcome you to Degrassi."

"Hello, Manny!" he replied and smiled warmly at the giggling girl.

"So can you show me to my next class? I have Media Immersion!" he said and tapped the sheet of paper in front of him. "I don't even know where half of these classes are."

"Emma can show you," Manny quickly said before Emma could interject. She saw the frown on her best friend's face. "What? It's not like you're doing anything now!"

"What are you doing then, Manny?"

"I need to go and see Craig before he goes into lesson," Manny said dreamily. She hugged Emma and waved goodbye to the new guy before hurrying down the school corridor. "I'll see you in Media Immersion."

"Is Craig her boyfriend?" the nervous boy asked Emma.

"Yes," Emma said and nodded her head curtly. "He's her new boyfriend but I don't think it will last very long because she's always dropping and changing boyfriends at the drop of a hat."

"She sure sounds like a real classy woman," he sneered at the disappearing figure.

Emma glared at him and she wanted to slap him.

"She's my best friend!" Emma said coldly and crossed her arms over her chest. Her nostrils flared like a raging rhinoceros. "How can you say something like that when you hardly know the person?"

The boy swallowed hard and embarrassingly bowed his head down to stare at his shuffling feet.

"I'm sorry," he apologised and sounded genuine. "Can you show me where Media Immersion is? Is that okay with you? I'm not treading on anything?"

"No, you're not treading on anything," Emma said and stepped leaning against the lockers. "I'm Emma Nelson, and you are?"

"My name is Travis Fleetwood, and I've just transferred from London."

"What is it like to live in London?"

Travis shrugged his shoulders and had an uninterested expression on his face.

"I thought it was very boring, too much traffic, too much crime and just annoying celebrities who will do anything to get on the television."

Emma laughed and it had been a couple of days since she even smiled or laughed.

"I'm not trying to joke, Emma," Travis said and smiled at the girl who was walking beside him.

"What made you decide to move to Canada?"

"I'd rather not talk about it!" Travis said coldly, his face had hardened and Emma nodded her head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Emma fretted as they walked through the long corridors of Degrassi Community School.

"You haven't upset me," Travis said and reassured her with a warm smile.

They walked and talked, Emma was surprised to see that he was well-spoken, friendly and quiet educated. She thought he was a cute looking boy, it was deep and sparkling emerald eyes were the first thing that caught her attention. He wasn't too short or too tall, fat or to skinny and Emma like how he was respectful and waited until she was finished before asking another question.

"Have you got a boyfriend, Emma?"

"Are you asking me on a date, Travis?" she asked and her heart hammered. Was he going to ask her out?"

"No," he laughed nervously and smiled reassuringly at her. "I was just wondering in case I have a jealous boyfriend."

Her face softened and she felt rejected. Was she ugly? Was she too chatty? Was she too tall?

"No," Emma replied and desperately fought against her tears of sadness. "I've just broken up with my boyfriend because he cheated on me with a slut."

"He must've been stupid, Emma. Who would want to cheat on a beautiful girl like you?"

Emma furiously blushed and coughed nervously.

"This is the classroom for Media Immersion, my father teaches it," Emma said and she pointed at a door at the end of the corridor.

"Your father teaches at Degrassi, that must suck," Travis said as they walked with the moving crowd. "I would hate it if my mother taught here. I'm glad to get rid of her for a couple of hours."

"Is your father around?" she asked and pressed him for an answer.

"I don't know where he is," Travis said. "I never met him, my mother said he ran away before I was born and hasn't been back. I don't think he knows that I even exist."

"That's unfair, Travis," she said and felt sorry for him.

"That's life, isn't it, Emma?" Travis said sarcastically. "I guess shit happens and we have to deal with no matter what happens. I don't really want to talk about my father; he's just a loser who will never know how great his son is.

"Why don't we go inside?" Emma said and her hand was resting on the twisting doorknob.

"Don't want to keep Daddy waiting, do we, Emma?" Travis teased and was given a playful punch on the shoulder. The door creaked opened and Travis followed his new friend into the classroom.


End file.
